HackTrain InnoTrans

The ultimate transport hackathon is backonce again!

This year we are proud to announce that InnoTrans, the biggest and best transport innovation event in the world has partnered with HackTrain to run what will be a truly special hackathon.

Join us on a journey to innovate the rail industry over 4 crazy days of hacking!

Attendees

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Hackers

Mentors

+

Prototypes

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Challenges For HackTrain InnoTrans

Customer Experience

What next generation of technology can improve the travel experience by 1000x for passengers?

Operational Efficieny

How can performance be improved through the use of data and machine learning?

Rolling Stock Enhancement

What can we do with the vast amount of data that trains are producing nowadays?

Intelligent Infrastructure

How can we build and operate our future infrastructure assets more effiecently?

and more ...

Prizes

Team Prizes:

£600 Travel Voucherto anywhere in the world

Overall Winners

1st Runner Up

Nintendo Switch x 4

2nd runner Up

Nespresso Citiz and Milk Coffee Machine x 2

Bose SoundLink Bluetooth Speaker II x 2

Individual Prizes:

Amazon Echo Spot x 2

Nespresso Essenza Mini Coffee Machine x 2

SilverRail Bounty Challenge:

From £1000 dependant on wining idea

Who will be there?

Mentors & Speakers

This year we are not holding back. Then again, when do we ever? We've hunted down the absolute brightest and best rail experts in the world and have invited them to mentor our equally talented hackers!

Schedule

All hackers and launch attendees have chance to meet each other and network before the hackathon begins. Drinks and snacks are on us ;)

Our CEO will launch the event alongside several other senior stakeholders from the rail industry. We're bringing out the bigger hitters for this launch. You won't want to miss this

A quick overview of some of the challenges that accompanying datasets available for the hackathon! Keep your eyes and ears peeled, some of these challenges may have special prizes up for grabs!

Dinner break where food and drinks will be provided for attendees - meals will be catered for all dietary requirements.

Attendees will be placed in groups and will participate in ice breaker challenges to build more rapport amongst each other.

Participants will pitch any idea they believe could solve the challenges presented. Mentors, sponsors, participants and the HackTrain team will vote for only 15 ideas to go further in the event - no pressure!

Once the best ideas are chosen, participants form teams to work on the lucky 15.

Teams will now be given a short period to work on their ideas. Use this time to make sure you get a good head start on the competition! Mentors will circulate the room and provide deeper insight into the challenges

All participants will be provided breakfast fit for only the best hackers, meeting all dietary requirements of course.

Participants will embark on their adventure to the HackTrain InnoTrans.

Hacking officially begins for the day. A piece of advice, eat, hack, hack and repeat! Sleep is for the weak.

Lunch break and a chance to walk around the InnoTrans fair to see all the amazing transport technologies being showcased and validate ideas!

Teams pitch whatever they have as a prototype or slide deck and receive feedback from mentors - dragons den style!

The last supper will be served.

This is then the pressure is really on! Participants will be practising their pitches and coding until the very last minute! Mentors and the HackTrain team will be deciding on the individual prizes

All teams will hack it out to the death to see who will make the final (No hackers will be harmed during this). Only 3 teams will go on to the finals.

After a long 2 days of hacking everyone will leave Messe Berlin and go back to the hotel to either rest or improve their prototypes for Wildcard pitches!

Mentors will be treated to a dinner to relax after their hardwork.

Wildcard pitches provide an opportunity to 3 teams that had a great idea but did not make it through the semi-finals. They will be given a chance to pitch their idea once more in the hope of getting into the finals

All the hacking has come down to this moment, the remaining 6 teams will pitch their ideas for the final time and the end only one group will be victorious.

A well and truly deserved drinks recpetion will be held for all participants to thank them for their effort and to celebrate the event.

HackTrain InnoTrans will be officially over. UNTIL 2020!

Time Left Until The Hackathon Starts

Days

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:

18 September 2018, Berlin, Germany

Think you've got what it takes to take part?

Register For The Launch

Don't quite want to take part but are curious to see what's going on? Then come along to our launch event for HackTrain InnoTrans at The Business Lougne in Marshall Haus at 17:00. RSVP here to gain entry. Please note, you must have a ticket for the InnoTrans fair to be able to attend the HackTrain InnoTrans launch.

Frequently Asked Questions

We welcome all developers, data scientists, designers, entrepreneurs, policy changers, rail professionals, consultants, financial analysts and economists including working professionals and university students. If you’re really interested in innovating the transport industry then we would love for you to apply too!

Nothing but a laptop, clothes and toiletries for the weekend, and yourself!

Yes there are! For applicants traveling from inside Germany we provide up to £25 travel reimbursement, and for those traveling from outside Germany we provide up to £50 travel reimbursement. Reimbursements are limited and are given on a first come first serve basis so the chances of you getting one are higher when you apply early.

Applications close on the 18th of August 2018. However, we interview on a first come first serve basis and spots generally are filled way before the closing date. There are so many participants that we even have a waitlist!

No! We are open to coders, designers and entrepreneurs of all levels. You don’t need a CS degree to be a coder, or a Bachelor of Arts to be a designer!

Nothing but a laptop, clothes and toiletries for the weekend, and yourself!

The challenges will be derived from the following themes: policy, performance, safety, infrastructure, rolling stock & customer experience

We will provide you food from Tuesday evening to Friday evening. If you have dietary restrictions, we’ll try our best to accommodate them. We also have lots of snacks we’ll be providing throughout the hackathon weekend

On Tuesday and Thursday night, you would be provided with hotel accommodation, but on Wednesday night there will be none as the idea of a hackathon is to hack overnight for 48 hours! However, you can still rest when you need to!! Our hotel even has a sauna and a pool!

We will release a more detailed schedule in September. If you have applied, we will keep you updated at all times through email, Slack channel and FB groups!

You can review our hackathon Code of Conduct for the rules!

The launch will be held in Berlin, Germany. It will be at the Innotrans trade fair, at the Business Lounge, Marshall Haus, Messe Berlin.

Go to our blog or follow our social media for updates!!

Teams are formed on the first day. You can pitch your ideas for solutions to the challenges posed at the start of the event. You will each have a chance to share a 60-second informal pitch consisting of the problem you want to tackle, the solution you want to propose, and the team members you need to make it happen. The top ideas are chosen and the teams are formed.

No, you may not. We like to have everyone meet and mingle before picking teams! Afterall, this is a learning experience for all and we want you to make new friends

We recommend team sizes of 4-5. Remember to build a team with people with a variety of skills!

First you will have Dragon’s Den on Wednesday evening. Semi-finals will then occur on Thursday whereas the Top 3 teams are selected for finals on Friday. On friday, wild card pitches will begin as all teams pitch again and 3 wild card teams are selected.

For the finale on Friday afternoon, the top 3 teams selected as well as the three wild card teams will pitch ago. The winner, runner ups and individual prizes will be announced.

During the pitches, you will have a chance to pitch your idea for 4 minutes + 2 mins Q&A from the judges! We split the judging criteria between 4 categories (each with its own percentage weighting): Business Model, MVP/Prototype, Design and Pitch/presentation. More detail will be sent to you through email before the hackathon.

Hackathons are endurance events that challenge small teams to intensively build products in an extremely short space of time!

InnoTrans is the leading international trade fair for transport technology that takes place every two years in Berlin. The trade fair attracts over 140,000 attendees from all over the world and is definitely an event not to be missed!

Feel free to email our Hackathon Talent star zain@hackpartners.com !

After you have scheduled an interview, we aim to get back to you within two weeks on your interview results that should determine if you get a ticket!

You may refer a friend on the application. If both you and your friend are chosen as participants, you may request a discount code for our 2-for-1 tickets.